Page 105 of The Study of Poisons
“You think Rand tipped her off?” the Commander asked.
“Unless it was just a lucky coincidence that she wasn’t there. Otherwise, either he did, or he sent a message with his fetch boy. That information would have been worth a lot of money. It may have even erased his gambling debt.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m sending him to MD-5.”
Valek had ceased to be surprised by the Commander’s uncharacteristic decisions. Instead of questioning him, Valek tried another tactic. “The food at the feast was—”
“Delicious, I know. However, I’ve grown tired of his schemes and Brazell is willing to take him on. We’ll get his chef, Ving, in exchange.”
Ah, the man responsible for making Criollo. Valek understood. “We can also arrest Rand for treason. I’ve more than enough evidence against him.”
“No need. Brazell will keep him in check.”
The insult, that Valek hadn’t, was implied. Even though the Commander had agreed to the plan to use Rand to find out more information on Star.
After updating the Commander, Valek stopped by Kenda’s office. She’d conducted the interviews on all of Star’s people.
“Guards, muscles, and servants,” Kenda said in disgust. “All very cooperative because they learned pretty quick that they were left behind to be sacrificed.”
“Did they have any idea on where Star will go next?”
“Nope. These were low hanging fruit, but I’ve an agent searching the house. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find some information.”
He hated depending on luck. And he hated scrambling to prepare for the next threat. But with the Commander’s decision to travel to MD-5 in the middle of the cold season, that was exactly what he had to do.
* * *
Since the southernerswere still in discussions, Valek spent the next couple of late nights getting ready for the trip to MD-5. No way was he remaining behind, but he needed to ensure Kenda could cover for him. He held meetings with Inrick and Hildred and then with Ari and Janco.
“Are we expecting trouble enroute?” Ari asked.
“No. Trouble will be at General Brazell’s manor house or at his factory. Keep a sharp eye out,” Valek said.
“Do you know the nature of this trouble?” Janco asked.
Valek debated. Should he trust them with the truth? Would they even believe him? He decided to confide in them his suspicions about Brazell and Criollo.
“Gah, magic,” Janco spat. “Bad enough we have a castle full of Sitians, now this!”
“Can we counter it?” Ari asked.
“I can, but I haven’t found anything else that will block it or stop it. The best thing to do is knock a magician unconscious or kill them. Darts filled with a sleeping potion and throwing knives are good weapons to have with you.”
“Wait!” Janco leaned forward. “You have sleeping juice? Why didn’t I know about this?”
“Because we don’t need it working as scouts,” Ari said.
“With something like that, it’s more a matter ofwant. Are there any other goodies you give your spies?”
“Lots, but since you’re not a spy…”
Janco groaned. His disappointment didn’t last as he perked up a few seconds later. “Okay, I get keeping the magician at a distance, but what about your knife with the blood?” Janco made a stabbing motion with his hand. “The King’s dead, but it didn’t stop his magic.”
“In those cases, the magician takes a thread of magic from the blanket of power and loops it back, so it doesn’t have to be maintained by the magician. The magic flows in a continuous circle on its own.”
“Blanket of power?” Janco asked.
Valek had forgotten that most Ixians knew nothing about magic. However, if Ari and Janco were going to be encountering magicians, they should be informed. “Magic surrounds the world like a blanket. Magicians have the ability to tap into the magic. They draw thin threads from this blanket and use it to light a fire, or move an object, or read a person’s thoughts, or heal, or any number of different things. Some magicians can only do one thing, others two or more. The master-level magicians can do everything. Unfortunately, magic is invisible, so you might not even know a magician is targeting you.”
